DL2SXM

Mods, please move this thread to the one entitled, What's the Stupidest, Least Substantive DL thing you can complain about. Thanks

BigDawg23

I am actually stunned by the numbers. I am shocked given many of the people have iPhones. Personally I use Bose QC20.

hfly

$5-8 Dollars from Walmart? That would be in excess of 10 -16 times what Delta pays for these. I would be surprised if they spent more than 50 cents per pair.

As for their quality and who uses them. Everyone has a time when whatever they have fails. Batteries are dead on the NC headsets, you only brought BT headphones with you, you broke yours or forgot them. Truth be told, the airbuds offered by airlines these days, no matter how bad quality are far superior to the air tubes offered not so long ago.....

puddinhead

Not having extra batteries is a rookie move and should be grounds for FT shaming.

StayingHomeIsBetter

A = number of people who find a thread unfulfilling

B = number of people who should be able to discriminate low probability of fulfillment from a descriptive thread title

C = number of people who could just go on their way silently, regretting their lost time

D = number of people willing to increase the time lost by posting a complaint about the thread



B ≈ A

C = A

D << A (fortunately)

wlau

No, I pack extremely smartly and well, since I am on the plane at least 1 round trip a week. That's also the reason why I said those $5-$8 earbuds from Walmart is better. I work in audio and Bose is one of the worst sounding headphones. Cheaper silicon tip noise insulator earbuds can provide just as good noise isolation, plus you dont have to carry that big carrying case for Bose. If you know what you are doing, you can find a lot of cheap decent quality earbuds that are also very effective at blocking noises - many of them are very durable and can handle rough handling during long flights.

The reason I raised it is because DL has a tendency to leave the earbud on your seat prior to boarding, with the sleep kit, pillow and blanket. Sometimes it feels like FAs just want to get rid of them. If you don't take them, they will get thrown a way by the cleaning crew. This is one of the reason someone on this thread mentioned they have a box full of these at home...

davetravels

Of course they're better. How much do you think Delta pays for them? I feel pretty safe in saying that it's less than 25¢, if I had to guess.

The only thing I know to compare it with, really isn't similar, but, I was quite surprised to find out that it only costs about $.015 (yes, 1.5¢) to manufacture airline bags of peanuts!

While I was searching to see how much airlines pay for earbuds (which I couldn't find), I found THIS article, all about Billboard & Delta's latest earbuds, and the last 2 generations of earbuds.

http://thegate.boardingarea.com/revi...lta-air-lines/

appleguru

I'm a bit of an audio nerd myself. Generally I find Bose gear bass-heavy, but decent. My home headphones are audio technica ATH-M50s

But I must say... My bose sound sport (not noise cancelling) headphones are BY FAR the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. And they sound pretty darn good too. I can wear them for 10s of hours without issue, they don't fall out when I'm exercising, the built in headset sounds good when I take calls, etc... Big fan.

I can't wear over ears for more than an hour or so without getting uncomfortable (my ears get hot). Likewise, the "in ear" monitor style buds that block sound get very uncomfortable for me after a couple of hours (I like airflow!!).

wlau

[email protected]! You are exactly right and the precise reason I raised this issue. It's very much a perception issue and for me, it's also a green ecofriendly thing. The raw material needed to create a crap earbud like the current DL ones are virtually identical to slightly better quality one. When they are so crappy that you can barely make out the dialog of movie, IT GETS TOSSED right after the flight. That's a lot of earbuds being thrown away! Most of the elements of an earbud is not easily recyclable like the plastic and paper cuts used generously on DL flights.

wlau

Your numbers are not correct. Those $5-$8 Walmart ones are around $1 in volume. I would say Delta moves more earbuds than a typical brand sold in Walmart, so they should have decent bargaining power.

I actually spent a chunk my career in headphones. Price and performance have virtually no to very little correlation. Your perception of "high quality" is a marketing message some people came up with <cough cough>...

Fry's often has JVC and Panasonic earbuds for $3-$5 on sale. They are super comfortable, great frequency response for pretty darn good sound reproduction and the cable is jacketed with good material, so they are pretty durable. With the amount of noise in the cabin, not even your trained ears can discern the sound quality difference between these ones at those true premium studio quality headphones...

I really don't think price is the sole reason for these picks. I think DL does not have the audio/acoustics expertise in house, so they don't know better. Just look at the super high quality plastic and paper cup used by Delta - those can't be cheap and they go through A LOT of them per flight.

Earbud noise insulator is also better for you. The active noise cancellation of Bose and alike generate an inverted signal to cancel out some of the cabin noise. It's technically a psychoacoustics effect and is known to cause the feeling of pressure when used, or headaches and other discomfort.... Those side effects don't exist with the insulator earbuds that just create a physical barrier to noise.

pbarnette

Then why didn't you have some of those great $5 earbuds in your bag?

Like 95% of the complaints on this forum, this is a fabricated grievance. Bring your own darn headphones. I mean, with all your manufacturing contacts and insider knowledge, you should be able to buy them by they case, maybe 100 great pairs for $75 or so?

gooselee

This thread is still happening?

davetravels

Like I said, I really have no idea what DL pays for earbuds in massive bulk. How much do YOU think they pay for them?

Like I said upthread . . . .

DL's main business is moving people and baggage. (You can decide which enterprise is more profitable )

They don't know better? I'd say, they're really not interested in knowing better. Earbuds are probably near the bottom of the list of important "stuff".

appleguru

Completely guessing, but I'd estimate that they're paying approximately $0.75 US per pair currently, including packaging.

And FWIW, I *do* find these acceptable for use in a pinch; they're much better than the old ones. Sometimes you get one that has poor build quality/ you need to jiggle the jack a bit for it to work well. But I find the sound more than acceptable overall.

davetravels

I dunno, but, this just really seems hard for me to believe. I would think if they cost DL that much, they'd keep tighter reigns on doling them out!

That said, I wonder how much they pay for a mini bottle of Woodford?